Teams from the sciences, engineering, and humanities at Stanford University have been awarded seed funding for the Curriculum Transformation Project (CTP). This initiative is part of Stanford’s Leveling the Learning Landscape (L3) program, which aims to make introductory undergraduate courses more accessible. The recipients include the Department of Biology, the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, and the Program in Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies.
The L3 initiative supports faculty in reshaping courses and teaching strategies while providing learning opportunities for students before and after their first year. So far, 12 instructional teams have created over 25 new or redesigned courses taken by around 2,700 undergraduates.
Applications for CTP were submitted in January for participation in a two-day workshop held in April by the Center for Teaching and Learning. This workshop assists instructors in developing proposals with feedback from peers and students.
“We are excited to add three new teams to our introductory curriculum transformation efforts,” said Mary Beth Mudgett, Curriculum Equity and Innovation Faculty Director. “Collectively, the CTP teams are tackling important challenges in the classroom.”
Funding will begin this summer with work continuing into the next academic year. “Each transformation seeds new transformations within a department,” Mudgett added.
Jessica Feldman will lead efforts in Biology to assess student learning across foundation courses. Colin Ophus will head projects in Materials Science and Engineering to align course goals with program outcomes. Rachel Jean-Baptiste will focus on aligning key courses with learning objectives in Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies.
The L3 initiative is funded by an anonymous donor with support from various university offices.
